Allentown Man Embarks On Mission To Reform The Legal Justice System

January 13, 1992|by JODI DUCKETT, The Morning Call

The 19th-century cartoon depicts a courtroom scene to which Bob Schaffer says he feels an incredible connection.

A judge leers from behind his platform, gesturing toward a man standing before him, as if to say, "Go ahead and speak." The man, however, is gagged and struggling to free himself from the people who are restraining him.

Aptly, the cartoon by French artist Honore Daumier is titled, "You are free to speak."

Schaffer says he feels like a bound and gagged man trying to exercise his right to defend himself as he represents himself in lawsuits that claim unlawful dismissal from his job with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT). And he says there are many, many people just like him.

"They (judges) are more interested in defendants' rights than the victims. It's like they are not interested in what you have to say, or for that matter, even hearing you speak," said Schaffer.

So the 26-year-old Allentown man has embarked on a mission to reform the legal justice system. He is not the first to embark on such a mission -- there are national organizations devoted to the cause.

But Schaffer wants to arouse awareness in the Lehigh Valley where he is trying to start an organization to "work for the common goals of honest government with a system of true justice." To that end, he has organized a "citizens forum" to be held at 7 p.m. Sunday at Fearless Fire Co., 1221 S. Front St., Allentown.

Scheduled speakers include: Leigh Hauter of HALT, a Washington, D.C.-based organization working for legal reform, who will speak on the failure of America's legal and judicial system to provide justice, and Gary Robinson, a member of Common Cause of Pennsylvania and the Montgomery County coordinator of the initiative and referendum project for Common Cause, who will speak on the issue of citizen's rights to initiative and referendum.

Schaffer's interest in the legal system began in 1988 when he got a speeding ticket in Berks County. He believed he was wrongly cited, hired a lawyer, challenged the ticket and won. It was largely a positive experience, Schaffer said.

When he was fired in 1989 from PennDOT, where he was being trained to operate equipment, he could not afford a lawyer, so Schaffer went pro se (the legal term for representing yourself in a judicial proceeding).

Schaffer claims he was fired because he filed a grievance claiming he was sexually harassed. PennDOT claims Schaffer was fired because he failed his training and the grievance was dismissed because the claims were unfounded.

Schaffer actually filed 14 suits, one suit against every person he worked with, from his superiors to fellow crew members. Filing became a difficult task because there is little help available if you don't have a lawyer and lawyers are quick to accuse anyone who offers help of illegally practicing law, according to Schaffer.

Schaffer said he has been accused of filing frivolous suits and criticized for clogging the court system. But Schaffer believes he has been wronged and has a right to due process. Instead, he said, he is treated as a second-class citizen, without the same respect that would be given a plaintiff with a lawyer.

"I don't have an ax to grind. I just want to go through the justice system without a problem," he said.

Schaffer is determined. He may not have a college education and his occupational history is a mishmash of odd jobs (he currently sells shoes part time), but he is a man with a mission.

These days he talks passionately about sovereign immunity and due process the way other people talk about the weather or soap operas. He has contacted news magazine programs such as "A Current Affair," "20/20" and "Geraldo." He has written President Bush and Gov. Robert Casey. Schaffer placed ads in area newspapers in an attempt to network with others with similar experiences, prompting much response.

"Some of the people -- when they tell you what they think of the local court system -- they use terms like `the grim reaper' and `the little shop of horrors,'" he said.

Initially, Schaffer called the organization he was forming FLAG, the Foundation for Law and Govern-

ment. But he eventually opted to become a part of a loosely organized Montgomery County-based group called VOCALS, an acronym for Victims of a Corrupt American Legal System.

Schaffer would like to change the way the system treats pro se litigants, and possibly assist potential pro ses.

"A lot of obstacles are made to deter you and things don't have to be as hard as they are ... Once you know the fundamentals, you can help yourself. But a lot of people are frustrated and they (lawyers and judges) are all trying to deter them and make them quit. They were trying to use those tactics on me, but I'm still going."